PUBLIC SAFETY
To live our lives to the fullest, we must first be safe and secure in our city. Public safety is my top priority. Our city has flourished because of our robust, professional police and fire departments that serve us. However, we need to ensure our people who work courageously at our fire and police departments are paid fairly.
Our police department has lost 180 years of combined experience since 2012 and the fire department reports 56 firefighters leaving for other jobs between 2010-2017, excluding retirements. The police department currently has a dozen positions unfilled. Lack of pay is the number one cited reason for resignations from both departments.
I’m hopeful about the prospect of solving this by entering into collective bargaining agreements between the department staff and the city to solve this problem that has plagued us for years once and for all.
SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH
Every empty storefront and warehouse is an opportunity to keep people working and living in Joplin. We’ve got a lot of space waiting to be used, both retail and industrial. We need to be proactive in making Joplin a great place to start or grow a small business.
One of the ways this can be accomplished is through a strategic resource center that can combine the knowledge of our chamber of commerce, SBTDC, organizations such as Joplin Downtown Alliance, and city staff so potential small business owners know upfront all the details they need to proceed with efficiency and knowledge. The more they know, the more we grow.
SUSTAINABLE BUDGET
We need a blueprint for a budget that will work today, and fifty years in the future. As our city grows and costs increase to deliverer basic services, we must be able to capture a share of revenue that meets our needs.
As an example, Joplin has 378 miles of streets to maintain. They generally require to be repaved every 20 years at a cost of $166,000 per mile. In 50 years we will need to have spent $125,000,000 just to maintain the road infrastructure we have today. A sustainable budget must plan ahead for these costs and ensure we are on track for providing for what we use.
